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Here, in his first collection since his three hilarious classics Getting Even, Without Feathers, and Side Effects, Woody Allen has managed to write a book that not only answers the most profound questions of human existence but is also the perfect size to place under any short table leg to prevent wobbling.

In hysterical flights of inspirational sanity we are introduced to a cast of characters only Allen could imagine: Jasper Nutmeat, Flanders Mealworm, and the independent film mogul E. Coli Biggs, just to name a few. Whether he is writing about art, sex, food, or crime, he is explosively funny. In “This Nib for Hire,” a Hollywood bigwig comes across an author’s book in a little country store and describes it in a way that aptly captures this magnificent volume: “Actually,” the producer says, “I’d never seen a book remaindered in the kindling section before.”

Praise for Mere Anarchy:

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER

“The stories inMere Anarchy deliver the same joys and foibles that have been with its author from the start.”–Janet Maslin, The New York Times

“Uproarious . . . In each story the ornate and the vulgate slam together and make it rain polysyllabic absurdity.”–The Wall Street Journal

“Nostalgically enjoyable . . . The stories in Mere Anarchy deliver the same joys and foibles that have been with its author from the start.”–The New York Times

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

The two funniest books I ever read were "Without Feathers" and "Getting Even", so my expectations were impossibly high for "Mere Anarchy." But almost to my surprise, Woody Allen's new book at least equals and maybe surpasses them both.

Allen's writing skills are off the charts, whatever the genre. At times, his sentence structure is so intricate and precise, his vocabulary so eccentrically obscure, that his setups become funnier than his punchlines:

"I was supremely confident my flair for atmosphere and characterization would sparkle alongside the numbing mulch ground out by studio hacks. Certainly the space atop my mantel might be better festooned by a gold statuette than by the plastic dipping bird that now bobbed there ad infinitum..."

This particular vignette, "This Nib for Hire", is particularly hilarious: the story of Flanders Mealworm, a pretentious, out of work novelist writing a novelization of a Three Stooges short.

In the later chapters, Allen drops the highly stylized prose and reverts to earlier form, where he simply piles absurdities on his paragraphs like pastrami on rye. This too is sidesplitting:

"How could I not have known that there are little things the size of 'Planck length' in the universe, which are a millionth of a billionth of a billionth of a centimeter? Imagine if you dropped one in a dark theater how hard it would be to find. And how does gravity work? And if it were to cease suddenly, would certain restaurants still require a jacket? ..."

Allen is funny on every level:

Funny premises--"Frederich Nietzsche's Diet Book", Savile Row suits impregnated with fragrances, a lighting double kidnapped by Indian terrorists while on location.Read more ›

This is good, not great, Woody Allen. Certainly not vintage Woody. But His deft economy of word useage, the analogies, the superb timing, even in print, are all there. I enjoyed the book, yet it left me with a rather empty feeling. I don't feel it's as memorable, as, say, David Sedaris. But this is still quite good.

If you're an Allen fan, especially a new fan, don't stop with this book. Also check out "The Complete Prose of Woody Allen."Complete Prose of Woody Allen

Many may only know Woody Allen from his films . . . but he has alsowritten three very funny collections of short stories: GETTING EVEN,WITHOUT FEATHERS and SIDE EFFECTS.

Over 25 years have passed since the publication of that last book,so when I saw he recently came out with MERE ANARCHY, I quicklygot my own copy to see if he has lost his touch . . . I'm happy to saythat he has not.

MERE ANARCHY, like his earlier efforts, covers a wide range oftopics . . . you'll find yourself laughing when you hear his observationsabout sex, food or even how parents deal with the rejectionof their son into the best nursery school in Manhattan:

* In the days following the rejection, Anna Ivanovich becamelistless. She quarreled with the nanny and accused her ofbrushing Mischa's teeth sideways rather than up and down.She stopped eating regularly and wept to her shrink. "I musthave transgressed against God's will to bring this on," shewailed. "I must have sinned beyond measure-too manyshoes from Prada." She imagined that the Hampton Jitneytried to run her over, and when Armani canceled her chargeaccount for no apparent reason, she took to her bedroom andbegan having an affair. This was hard to conceal from BorisIvanovich, since he shared the same bedroom and askedrepeatedly who the man next to them was.

I also liked what Allen had to say about moving into a newproperty:

* It all began with the purchase of a small brownstone onManhattan's Upper West Side. Miss Wilpong, of MengeleRealtors, promised us it was the buy of a lifetime, pricedmodestly at a figure no higher than the cost of a stealthbomber.Read more ›

I enjoyed these little comic treats , Woody Allen has not lost his talent for satire and the absurd . If you liked his other books, "Without Feathers", "Side Effects", etc , you will enjoy this new collection as well. I did need to check my dictionary for a few words that were new to me , but that is part of the fun. I doubt that "dacoit" , "tergiversation" "corybantic" ,"dumka" etc. are part of most people's lexicons, even the well read , so keep a dictionary handy and enjoy the laughs !

or just merely boring? the latter, sadly, is the case when it comes to Woody Allen's new tome Mere Anarchy.

When I was in my late teens, early 20's, I read both Without Feathers and Side Effects with relish, and a side of laughter. Mere Anarchy, however, was ready with a lot of difficulty and at under 200 pages I had to force my way to the last line of the last short story before closing the book with a sigh of relief.

Allen writes in a style reminiscent of 1950's pulp detective side of the mouth fiction coupled with a schmeer of insecure Jew. Each and every short story is written in the same style and tone. More than once a story used the "main character attempts to flee scene stage right" trick in an obvious and supposedly humorous fashion (by the second time it's not). There's no change in voice, making it difficult to distinguish between stories and thus reducing each the ridiculous situation(s) Allen specializes in into yawnfests.

I found only two of the stories humorous. "Strung Out" is an Allen take on the infamous "Sex Life of an Electron" short story that's been floating around for eons. Actually, I don't know if Allen is aware of the story, but reading it I couldn't help but make a comparison. "Surprise Rocks Disney Trial" is a highly original piece (for this book, at least) in which Mickey Mouse is deposed at the Michael Ovitz termination bonus trial where Mickey reveals some scandalous and salacious gossip about his fellow Disney costars.